Keystone XL pipes more debate to US Congress

US Republicans and Democrats were set to spar, again on March 8, over the future of the Keystone XL pipeline.

Debate over a transportation spending bill included a provision that would allow TransCanada Pipeline to cross the international border with pipes connecting the Alberta oil sands and Gulf of Mexico refineries.

Republicans introduced an amendment by North Dakota Republican Senator John Hoeven that would authorize TransCanada to build the 2,673 kilometer pipeline from Hardisty, AB, to the U.S. Gulf Coast. The legislation would deem the environmental review process already fulfilled by the work done before the White House rejected the proposal earlier this year.

Democrats have countered with an amendment that would make it illegal to export any oil, refined or otherwise, that travels through the pipeline.